Virgin Media Community

[armstrongfj]

So.

As above, I wish to have my two V6 boxes upgraded to TV 360 without extending or renegotiating my Virgin Media contract.

I found the well hidden on line order page which thinks about it for a moment then suggests that I ring the Customer Services team, after waiting on hold for 38 minutes the call dropped, another 40 minutes later I convinced a support agent to sell me the upgrade for £24.99. This failed to materialise.

Some days later, after waiting only 20 minutes, another representative could not find the request, and offered to upgrade FOC, without a requirement to extend the contract. This failed to materialise.

I opened a complaint, which inexplicably turned into a whatsapp conversation, and a three hour wait. This led to the revelation, that the upgrades were requested successfully, but access was denied as the request requires the customer to go to the dedicated Oomph team on 150.

Having invested some seven hours into this with no reward, I asked for the retentions team, you will not be surprised to learn that said team is not available until tomorrow.

So ... has anyone *ever* managed to obtain TV 360 under an extant Ultimate Oomph contract or should I cut my losses and try Sky Q?

PS Is there really a dedicated Oomp team? I *might* find out tomorrow.

Regards,

Francis.

[roy247 · Accepted solution]

Not sure about the dedicated oomph team but an early call to the retensions team should get you sorted, they are onshore.

[Beth_G]

HI Francis,

Thank you for your post.

I was really sorry to learn of your recent experience when trying to upgrade your TV service, I appreciate that does sound frustrating.

Whilst we're no longer offering Oomph packages, we are still able to upgrade customers already on an Oomph package from V6 boxes to the 360 software.

I'm going to pop you over a PM now so I can take some details and look into this further for you. We don't usually help with package changes here from the forums, but given the poor experience you've had, we are keen to get this sorted.

[armstrongfj]

Beth_G,

I was, and am, in a whatsapp call when you made your kind offer of assistance, 

22nd 17:02 machine introduction

22nd 20:45 Security check

22nd 20:50 Agent explains requirement for "dedicated Oomph team"

22nd 20:51 I ask how this can be accomplished

22nd 20:52 Agent Ring 150

22nd 20:53 I ask to cancel the lot

22nd 20:54 Machine introduction

-------sleep

23rd 07:39 Machine introduction, am I really still waiting?

23rd 09:03 I respond 1

23rd 09:04 - 09:05 - 3 passes round "Something else" 

23rd 09:05 Machine offers to get me through to team

23rd 11:38 Agent authenticates me

23rd 11:54 Agent asks if I want to speak to retentions.

23rd 11:54 I respond "I do"

23rd 12:12 Agent says sure, Francis, I shall mention clear notes on the account, and get that sorted for you.O really understand how important services are

23rd 12:13 I respond with I can discuss the issues directly, (although privately I think "Odd") 

23rd 12:13: I restate the summary;

My goal for this conversation is to have the remotes delivered, to permit the upgrade of the V6 OS from Tivo to TV 360. If required, £24.99 may be added to the next invoice to fund this. For the avoidance of doubt, the term of the existing contract must not be changed, nor must the composition of the existing services be modified, nor the contractual monthly cost, other than the planned loss of discount at the end of the current contracted period.

If, for any reason, the above is not possible prior to the 3rd of February, then I would wish for Virgin service provision (tv, broadband, phone, and mobile) to be ceased on the 3rd of March.

23rd 12:28 Agent says "It's been lovely speaking with you roday, look after yourself and stay safe.

23rd 12:28 I respond "You too" (Privately I think Virgin Media is collectively insane).

Have I been passed to the Retentions team?

Does the Dedicated Oomp team actually exist?

Will Virgin Media consider annual contracts enabling price increases to be done without breaching contracts, destroying the call centres, good will, and my sanity clause?

Has Virgin done sufficient damage to itself to overwhelm Openreach/Sky with a mass exodus?

"These questions ... and many others ... will be answered in the next episode of...Soap."

So to summarise, three abortive calls, a 17 hour wait time (and growing), a kind offer from yourself, all to deal with an order for two remote controls.  

And from my perspective, this just to see if the TV 360 service is fit enough for purpose to bother negotiating a new deal in two weeks time, rather than migrate to other suppliers. 

I recognise now, that attempting to order a couple of remotes at a time of mass contractual breach may not be the happiest experience, but I was not aware that Virgin were doing this prior to the request.

Thorin Sits Down And Starts Singing About Gold

Regards,

Francis.

[armstrongfj]

Roy,

Thanks for the advice, after the 17 hour (admittedly, not hawkishly watched) support call, I called, asked for cancellations, got general support, was sent to retentions, he ordered the remotes (again), this time he gave me an order code, so let's see what happens on Wednesday. Thanks for the advice.

Regards,

Francis.

[roy247]

Hi Francis,

I hope you think 360 is worth all the trouble you have had. You will find differences between the two systems and any questions you have will probably have been asked on the 360 forum already.

Let's hope Wednesday goes smoothly.

Roy.

[armstrongfj]

Roy,

I fear the worst, but I am willing to be convinced. Cheers

Regards,

Francis.

[armstrongfj]

The TV 360 interface is a significant improvement, I'm not using any decent audio capabilities which seem to be the weak spot ,that said, we have decided to drop the TV side of Virgin media.

Incidentally call wait times are back at an acceptable level, although the tier 2 team has gone walkies, I had a great deal set, halfway through the scripts then dead, aw, snap!

Regards,

Francis.